“Thinking Outside the Box”: Separated Children Project, Closing Event London

In judicial proceedings where a child is separated – or at risk of separation – from their parents, there is a real risk that their situation is not properly addressed. Since January 2016, the Separated Children in Judicial Proceedings project has aimed to generate a more child-centred approach in cases involving separated children, through exchange of experience between different specialisations and different judicial settings (cross fertilisation) and by building specialized knowledge on children’s rights, landmark jurisprudence and strategic litigation opportunities. Our closing event in London “Thinking Outside the Box” reflects on the issues examined and ongoing developments in law, policy and practice which have been explored in the Project over the last two years.

We are very grateful to the many judges, lawyers, academics, guardians, social workers, policy makers and NGOs working on children’s rights or justice issues for contributing their expertise to events in Brussels, Dublin, London and Zagreb to explore key issues for separated children. We have connected with ongoing initiatives supporting regional child rights training in similar fields, including the FAIR project led by ICJ, Uprights led by ECRE and My Lawyers My Rights led by DCI. We have enjoyed invaluable support from children’s ombudsmen’s offices, UN agencies, the Council of Europe and the EU institutions. We thank in particular the European Commission for EU funding which made this innovative project possible.